Madonna in a Fur Coat

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Was it Raif's peculiarities that made me feel seen, or Maria's reluctance to believe in the possibility of companionship? A tale of young love and disenchantment, of missed opportunities and passion's elusive, flickering flame . And here we come to what the novelist and critic Kaya Genç sees as the key to the mystery of Ali’s suddenly renewed fame. His least acclaimed novel has become Turkey’s most celebrated love story today because it refuses the traditional gender roles that Turkey’s president seems hell-bent on enforcing, not just in the religious heartlands but also in the cities and towns that have been secularising, and liberalising, for almost a century. Ten years later, an old acquaintance of Raif from Berlin, who is also a relative of Maria, meets Raif in Ankara, with a child beside her.

Alexander Dawe has translated several works from French and Turkish including the short stories of Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar and Sait Faik.Sometime later, Raif sees a woman in a fur coat that he quickly recognizes while strolling in the streets of Berlin at night. Sabahattin Ali (1907-1948) was born in the Ottoman town of Egridere (now Ardino in southern Bulgaria). During his lifetime, and even after his death, Ali was publicly taunted for failing to act like a “real man”.

Ali’s murder, allegedly at the hands of an offended patriot, was echoed by the 2007 murder of the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. It is revealed that Maria grew up without a father and therefore plays a male-like, dominant role in the relationship; while Raif is more naive. If the quality of a novel is based on the quality of the characterisation, then this is certainly a sure-fire hit. But there is also a notebook, hidden in his desk drawer at work, which he asks his friend to destroy.

He is admired for the determination with which he defended his political beliefs, which are anchored through his writing. Though he carried on working for state institutions, his dissident writings ultimately led to his being removed from his post in 1945.

And what a pity that is: a dash of curiosity is all it takes to stumble upon treasures we never expected. When he finally reaches Turkey, he sees that his brother-in-laws have claimed a big portion of the inheritance.During the cold war, they were translated into a number of languages in the Soviet bloc, and they are still much read in Bulgaria. Madonna in A Fur Coat, first published in 1943, is his best loved work and a touchstone of Turkish literary culture which continues to resonate profoundly with readers young and old today. The story is told by a colleague who barely knows Raif, and that too adds a cold irony to the storytelling.

But he is not much interested in the glad-eyed widows and the ruined colonialists, or for that matter, in soap. There, he finds out that Maria was quite ill, and since her mother left their home to go to Prague, she was hospitalized. Raif is intensely in love with Maria, but he is not sure if she feels the same way, so he holds back.

It has taken more than 70 years, says Genç, but at last Ali is having his revenge – not just in Turkish, but in English, too. Emotionally powerful, intensely atmospheric and touchingly profound, Madonna in a Fur Coat is an unforgettable novel about new beginnings and the unfathomable nature of the human soul. The city’s crowded streets, thriving arts scene, passionate politics and seedy cabarets provide the backdrop for a chance meeting with a woman, which will haunt him for the rest of his life, in this emotionally powerful, intensely atmospheric and touchingly profound novel about new beginnings and the unfathomable nature of the human soul. Madonna in a Fur Coat' is a pure definition of 'melancholy' and yearning for missed opportunities in life. recreates a vanished era and dramatises a doomed relationship, and does so with verve, depth and poignancy.